SEAArch - The Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog » Cambodia

The secret life of tour guides at Angkor

noelbynature — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:01:34 +0000

The Phnom Penh Post has a revealing article about how tour guides at Angkor view the world and make their living. It’s fairly common knowledge that tour guides get a commission for leading tourists to restaurants and stores – but what does this story tell us about conducting responsible tourism in Cambodia?

Tour guide at Angkor, Phnom Penh Post 20120203

Gold rush at Angkor
Phnom Penh Post, 03 February 2012

It is not hard to get an official license as a tour guide, but it is expensive. Quite often you must bribe an officer from the Ministry of Tourism up to $1,000.

Of course you have to pass an exam, but that’s a joke. They check your language and historical knowledge in a mock exam, but in order to get the title as a tour guide you have to pay. I would not pay in the beginning and failed twice. The officer did not even look at my test sheet. After paying $1,000, I passed the test. Many of my colleagues had the same experience.

We must buy the official logo of the Ministry of Tourism for $2-$3. Then we buy the shirts and sew the logo onto them.

Travel agencies know the good and the bad tour guides. They hand out questionnaires to their clients, and if you receive too many bad reviews, they will not book you again. All agencies have their favourite guides and want to book them, but if they are unavailable, the agencies must decide for their second, third or, in the peak season, their 100th choice.

Full story here.

Public Lecture: Pots and How They are Made in Southeast Asia

noelbynature — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:23:19 +0000

Readers in Singapore may be interested in this talk about ceramics production in Mainland SEA by Louise Cort and Leedom Lefferts. Click on the image to download the flyer (pdf). No registration is required.

Pots and how they are made in mainland Southeast Asia
Louise Allison Cort and Leedom Lefferts
Friday, 17 February 2012, 7 to 8.30pm
Ngee Ann Auditorium, Asian Civilisations Museum

Cambodia’s tourism fuelling education boom

noelbynature — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:06:02 +0000

An interesting story on how the development of Siem Reap for tourists is also having a secondary effect in fuelling a desire by local Cambodians for higher education. For many, better education and qualifications means access to better-paying jobs, although the quality of such education is a concern.

Near Cambodia’s Temple Ruins, a Devotion to Learning
New York Times, 24 January 2012

Millions of tourists come here every year to visit the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat, an influx that has helped transform what once resembled a small, laid-back village into a thriving and cosmopolitan town with thumping nightlife and more than 10,000 hotel rooms.

But the explosion of the tourism industry here has also done something less predictable. Siem Reap, which had no universities a decade ago, is now Cambodia’s second-largest hub for higher education, after the capital, Phnom Penh.

The sons and daughters of impoverished rice farmers flock here to work as tour guides, receptionists, bartenders and waitresses. When their shifts are over, they study finance, English and accounting.

Full story here.

Two travel stories on Angkor

noelbynature — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 07:10:57 +0000

Over the weekend newspapers from Malaysia and the Philippines featured travel stories on Angkor.

photo credit:

Kingdom of the Khmers
The Star, 21 January 2012

The light of Angkor Wat
The Philippine Star, 22 January 2012

As far as I know, the two newspapers aren’t related!

7 Lectures from iTunes U on Southeast Asian Archaeology

noelbynature — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:37:16 +0000

Last week, Apple announced a revamped iBooks and iTunes U service aimed at bringing textbooks and course materials to the iPad. There’s a fair buzz in the education circles, but how much content is there relating to the archaeology of Southeast Asia?

As expected, not much, yet. There aren’t many channels devoted to archaeology, much less to the archaeology of Southeast Asia. But if you dig deeper, you might be able to find a couple of good lectures and material. Here’s my list of so 7 far:

Sacred Lands, Sacred Traditions: The arts of Southeast Asia and the Himalayas – a 2005 lecture series by the Society of Asian Art at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Covers topics of the art of Thailand and Indonesia in particular, and the art of early Southeast Asia.
Southeast Asia-China Interaction – from the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore. The lecture series covers a wide variety of topics from the ancient to the contemporary, but some of the lectures relevant to archaeology include talks on Champa in Vietnam and kiln sites in Cambodia.
Emerald Cities – Another series by the Asian Art Museum, focused on a 2009-2010 exhibition focused on the art of 18-20th century Thailand and Myanmar.
South and Southeast Asia before 1200 – Part of lecture series on art by Maggie Hobson-Baker of the Montogomery County Community College.
Arts of Southeast Asia Documentaries – Another one from the Asian Art Museum, one of the the three podcasts in this series is about the temple mountains of Cambodia.
World Audio Cambodia – Sounds, music and stories from Cambodia. Not exactly archaeological, but there are some locations featured.
Passport to Asia – Asian Art Museum Lecture series 2008-2009. A wide variety of subjects on Asian sites, but two lectures on Pagan (Myanmar), Borobudur (Indonesia) and the Royal Road of Angkor (Cambodia/Thailand).

That’s a start. It’s not quite seven lectures, as some of the links contain more than one lecture! Do you know of any other content in iTunes U that is related to Southeast Asian Archaeology?

Indonesian observers to be sent to disputed border

noelbynature — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:41:00 +0000

Indonesia confirms that a team of observers will be sent to the disputed border between Cambodia and Thailand at Preah Vihear.

Preah Vihear, cc image

Indonesian Observer Team Will Head to Cambodia-Thai Border
Jakarta Globe, 17 January 2012

In the wake of recent developments related to the border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand, Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said on Monday that Indonesia would continue the long-delayed plan to send an Indonesian observer team to the border.

“I can confirm this thanks to the positive outcome of discussions between the Thai and Cambodian governments,” Marty told the Jakarta Globe.

“Both countries reaffirmed their wish to have an Indonesian observer team in the 4.6-square kilometer provisional demilitarized zone as a follow up to the International Court of Justice ruling,” he added, referring to the disputed area surrounding the centuries-old Preah Vihear temple, to which both countries have claims.

Full story here.

Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre Field School Opening Event 25 January 2012

noelbynature — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:52:55 +0000

The Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre’s Field School is underway in Cambodia right now, and next week the participants will be moving to Singapore for the second half of the programme. The opening ceremony will be held next Wednesday. Registrations to attend the ceremony are open til tomorrow.

Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre Field School Opening Ceremony

Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre Field School Opening Event
Venue: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, Seminar Room 2
Date: 25 January 2012
Time: 10am – 1.30pm
RSVP: betty@iseas.edu.sg

Angkor Wat and Borobudur to be sister sites

noelbynature — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:21:10 +0000

The tourism departments of Indonesia and Cambodia are in discussions to make Angkor Wat and Borobodur sister sites, and promote bilateral tourism by opening air routes between the two cities.

photo credit: Justyn™

Angkor Wat, Borobudur temple to become sister sites, says official
Jakarta Post, 16 January 2012

Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap and Indonesia’s Borobudur temple in Central Java are to become sister sites, according to an official.

Head of Indonesian delegation I Gusti Putu Laksaguna said on Thursday that the proposal had been agreed by both Cambodian and Indonesian tourism ministers during a bilateral meeting at the ASEAN Tourism Forum at the Grand Kawanoa Convention Center in Manado, North Sulawesi.

Full story here.

Angkor sees 23% increase in visitors in 2011

noelbynature — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:54:28 +0000

The Siem Reap Tourist Department reports a 23% increase in foreign visitors to Angkor, with the largest group of visitors coming from South Korea, but a sharp increase in Chinese tourists who are now the 4th largest group.

photo credit: greggman

Int’l visitors to Cambodia’s Angkor heritage site up 23 pct in 2011
Xinhua, 10 January 2012

Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temples, one of the world heritage sites, attracted 1.6 million foreign visitors in 2011, an increase of 23 percent from 1.3 million a year earlier, according to the statistics of Siem Reap provincial tourism department on Tuesday.

Among the top ten countries visiting the temples, South Korea was ranked first with 265,000 visitors, up 31 percent; Vietnam at second with 251,400, up 45 percent; Japan at third with 120,200, up 5 percent; and China at fourth with 119,900, up 81 percent.

The statistics also showed that Thai tourists to the temples had slightly declined by 0.2 percent to 42,250 due to border dispute that led to armed clashes in February and April last year.

Full story here.

Public Lecture: The Site of Koh Ker and the reign of Jayavarman IV

noelbynature — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:40:58 +0000

There will be a public lecture on the Angkoran site of Koh Ker by Dr Chen Chanratana at the Royal University of Fine Arts in February. (via the CANCAMBODIA group)

The Site of Koh Ker and the reign of Jayavarman IV: History, Art and Archaeology
Location: Faculty of Archaeology, Royal University of Fine Arts, Phnom Penh, Cambodia (North of the Royal Palace)
Date: 04 Feb 2012
Time: 2.30pm